Source : The Hindu
Nothing controversial in S Durga, says filmmaker
Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan has said that the ban being imposed on films such as Padmavati poses a serious threat to democracy.
It is dangerous on the part of the Central government to let loose rowdy elements that demand films be outlawed.
Speaking at the ‘Scholar in Campus’ programme of the Kerala Media Academy here on Monday, Adoor said cinema did not need censoring.
The Censor Board, euphemistically called the Central Board of Film Certification, was actually formed to protect the film fraternity.
Darkly ironical
“It is darkly ironical that a film that has undergone the censoring process is not being allowed to be screened. Even the court order in this regard gets ignored,” he said, while referring to the film S Durga being kept out of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
He said that he had watched the film and that there was nothing controversial in its content. It would do artists a lot of good to articulate their opinions, he said, citing the way actor Alencier protested against fascist tendencies.
“An actor is not just an artiste, but a part of the society he or she lives in,” said Adoor.
Film jury
He criticised the trend of selecting those who were not conversant with good cinema on the film jury.
“Mammootty and Mohanlal are good actors, but it is improper to cast them in unsuitable roles. The body language of the actors should suit the characters they are asked to essay.” Scathing in his criticism of commercial flicks, Adoor said it had come to such a situation, where the more a film succeeded in fooling viewers, the greater its performance at the box office.
Film news often masqueraded as paid news items fooling the readers, he said.
Publicity
The latest trend, he said, was of spending more money on publicity than on making a film, but such things could not be curbed by way of measures such as legislation. Adoor Gopalakrishnan also inaugurated the Academy’s film club.
